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Daily Archives: Sunday, July 18. 10

When Ebook readers first started appearing, I would have bet money I would never like them, let alone get one. But I started finding free stuff on the internet and reading it, not to mention people sending me stuff(you know who you are), and I began to realize it wasn’t that egregious a task to read something off a screen. Make no mistake, a book in hand will always be my favorite. Hard to explain to non-readers, but something, perhaps that smell of paper/ink, makes the link to reading unbreakable in my mind.

However, and there’s always a however, things are starting to appear that I have an interest in that aren’t available on paper, at least for the moment, so I finally broke down and downloaded Amazon’s free Kindle application for PCs. It even came with a Stephen King short story, N, as a bonus.

I did that primarily because these two books I wanted and I can be an impatient soul when I want something. They are what spurred me on. I doubt that I will ever buy a Kindle, or any other type of reader, as, because of my health, I rarely leave home. No need for a device loaded with books as I am surrounded by the real thing in large numbers.

Now, the books.

KILLING TRAIL by Charles Allen Gramlich, he of the RAZORED ZEN blog, is a nice collection of short stories and a couple of pieces where he discussed influences on his writing. Most definitely worth the cost.

A POLICEMAN’S LOT by Gary M. Dobbs, THE TAINTED ARCHIVE is his domain, is a turn of the century tale combining elements of the West and crime stories in a novel set in Wales. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show is touring Great Britain and has set up outside Pontypridd. Inspector Frank Parade heads a two man force that has the extra burden of five hundred performers and eight hundred head of stock, never mind that the thousands pouring in for the shows, to deal with.

When the killings start up, throats slit, Parade chillingly finds connections to a sixteen year old series of unsolved killings. Has Jack the Ripper reemerged? His own unique interpretation of the killings can take place alongside the multiple theories propunded over the years.

I was quite pleased with both of these books and, because of that, I’ve made several more purchases. Will get to them in due course.